IIPM Admission

Monday, May 19, 2008

The following points are the prime criterion for selecting, short-listing and ranking the winning ads in this section:• Product positioning clarity• Clinching benefit to the brand• Presence of a power idea• Visibility of brand personality• Expectancy of communication• Single-minded focus of message• Reward to the prospect• Visually arresting• Painstaking craftsmanshipHere’s the 4Ps B&M verdict for the fortnight ended June 4, 2007. First come the print ads, then the TVCs. Ready for a piece of action?

BRAND : HSBCHEADLINE : We understand that no two businesses are alikeBASELINE : The world’s local bankAGENCY : Contract Advertising4Ps TAKE : Wow! So simple, yet so striking. All of us know that diverse kinds of business structures exist, but HSBC has beautifully used this fact to take forward its theme of customised treatment for its customers. The pictorial comparison of two different types of business families at once puts across the point. If the last campaign had a young girl with her new torn jeans and her matronly mother as protagonist; this time there are two sets of ‘Board of Directors’ rooted in two separate management styles: one that of a familyowned business and the other of a professional corporate structure. The theme easily brings out the single-minded focus, which is to promote HSBCs commercial banking that serves ‘all kinds’ of customers. The visual blends well with the theme and communication is bang on. The body copy explains the process of selecting practical banking solutions for customers, once the bank gains a thorough understanding of them. Overall, another great one from HSBC, which claims to be the world’s local bank!

BRAND : Incredible! IndiaHEADLINE : Ever met the talking murals?.....come alive.AGENCY : R.K. Swamy/BBDO4Ps TAKE : Guess, bringing out great campaigns has become more of a habit than a task for the Incredible India guys. It’s Goa that the Incredible India team has zeroed in on this time as it swoops down on the sun, sea and sands of Goa. If you thought that this delightful destination is only about lovely beaches, rocking parties, colourful carnivals, flea markets and cheap port wines then you are sadly mistaken. Incredible India has taken upon itself to promote the heritage-laden churches of Goa that are attracting religious tourists from all over. The visual comprising Basilica of Bom Jesus is superb and attractive, while the power idea – to promote this state and its churches is brought out well. Above all, it’s the communication that sounds very inviting: talking about the blend of Indian with European art, and the visual conveying the architectural marvel complete with carved woodwork and realistic murals. Wonder how they manage to bring out unknown facets of India, campaign after campaign with such ease that both invite and amaze. Yeh dil maange more...!

BRAND : ICICIHEADLINE : When you travel, one is more powerful than tenAGENCY : Dentsu MarcomBASELINE : The card that travels4Ps TAKE : When you have great offers at hand, it only makes great sense to combine them with powerful campaigns. And this one’s just that! It promotes ICICI’s Thomas Cook Titanium MasterCard by promising to ease the burden of their consumers while travelling abroad. The message is loud and clear – the ad introduces the card and lists its various USPs (it can be used at any airline, hotel and establishment) along with the offers that come with it. The body copy signs off in style – it pays to travel light. The red background is attractive and the lead visual of a wallet with only the card in it, is expressive. The headline is powerful and conveys the message with clarity. The ad scores high on bringing out the brand personality of ICICI bank as it promises that one can easily do away with all other forms payment. Powerful, in the truest sense!

BRAND : NIIT ImperiaHEADLINE : You are not the boss…..without you.BASELINE : Give your signature more weightAGENCY : Contract Advertising4Ps TAKE : What strikes first in this rather simple looking ad is not the visual or the brand but lines written in white and bold – You are not the boss. And yet, the meeting doesn’t start without you! This time it’s the working professionals that NIIT is attracting, encouraging them to get another degree, and ‘add more weight to your signature’. The campaign scores on the sheer power of the headline that compels one to read on. The power idea to entice working professional with the promise of empowering them, is brought out well. The body copy is informative and lists the benefits of this management course. And the USP is revealed subtly – A certificate from IIM. Well, any ordinary ad would have raved and ranted on this very aspect but not this one. The ad is detailed but not cluttered. We’d say – an ad that matches the standards of those whom it aims to attract.

BRAND : CanonHEADLINE : Sleek zindabad… Technology zindabadBASELINE : Delighting you alwaysAGENCY : Dentsu Marcom4Ps TAKE : First of all, thank you Canon for showing us the funkier side of Sachin. It was only in the last issue that we had Olympus harping on its digital technology and this time we have Canon boasting about its sleek body and multi-faceted detection technology and that’s the reward to the prospect. The visual with Sachin Tendulkar in his cool-dude avatar hogs the limelight, while the hip guys n’ gals just fill the background. The headline – Sleek Zindabad... Technology Zindabad not only up the youthful appeal of the ad but also reinforces the USPs of the product. The body copy informs about the various features of the product. The ad really stands out on one aspect – it gives a very Indian touch and funky feel to a technology brand that has its roots in Japan. Sachin Zindabad!

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Rub Aladdin’s lamp and whoever the appearing genie is beholden to, can use his magical prowess to amass enormous power for himself. A throwback to those pages from Arabian Nights, in the 21st century corporate world, the genie has assumed the form of Glaceau or the US-based Energy Brands Inc.. Last year, the enhanced water maker was the global expansion genie for the 68- year-old Ratan Tata, who purchased 30% equity of Glaceau. This year, Glaceau stands testimony to Tata’s aborted dream. In contrast, for soft drinks major Coca-Cola, Glaceau was a distant dream, which would bring it into the reckoning as a serious non-fizzy drink maker. This year, the dream became reality, with Coca Cola acquiring 50% of the health drinks major (as also Tata’s 30% stake) for a staggering $4.1billion in cash.

So why did Tata Tea sell its minority stake in Glaceau (for a cool $1.2 billion) so soon after acquiring it on August 23, 2006 for $677 million? Was the $523 million profit enticement enough for the $22 billion Tata Group to exit a lucrative business? At the time of the acquisition in 2006, Tata Tea had claimed that the strategy was to enable Tata Tea’s global expansion plans as a beverage giant, and enhance their portfolio beyond simply tea. By bidding adieu to Glaceau, are they thwarting those ambitions? What is Coca- Cola’s gameplan? What’s on the mind of Ratan Tata and Neville Isdell (CEO of Coca-Cola)? 4Ps B&M raises the curtain on why Tata got rid from Glaceau and why Coke lovingly embraced it.

Glaceau & global dreams…Well, Tata Group’s overtures in the global takeover game needs no introduction. The 30% stake in Glaceau was just one more in a series of strategic acquisitions that commenced way back in 2000, with the acquisition of Tetley. But the Glaceau acquisition was different from the rest, in as much as it marked Tata Tea’s foray into the global energy drinks market, and that too with a company whose products – vitaminwater, fruitwater, smart water and vitaminenergy brands – straddled the entire spectrum in the high-potential water and energy drinks segment.

The bullish CEO of Tata Tea, Percy Siganporia even extrapolated that the global energy drink market would be worth $10 billion by 2009-10. But before he could reap the rewards of this lucrative market, Tata Tea sold off its stake to Coca Cola. Analysts that once hailed Tata Tea’s acquisition of Glaceau as a strategic investment were stupefied.

Senior officials at Tata Tea claim that they exited Glaceau because Tata’s did not want to be a minority stakeholder in any entity. Wonder why they bought it in the first place, knowing that Glaceau was a prime target for acquisition by myriad beverage giants in the US, in the face of a slump in cola sales versus a boom in healthy drink sales? And once the Atlanta-based giant bought controlling stake in Glacaeu, Tata Tea was left with little choice but to make a polite exit, given its decreased clout within the company. Analysts believe that Tata Tea’s time would have been better spent in fortifying backward linkages in its existing value chain. “Tatas should have focused more on Indian tea estates and its processing aspect rather than acquiring global brands from a different segment,” feels N.K. Basu, Principal Advisor of Indian Tea Planters Association.

A slight miscalculation and Tata Tea literally has had to abandon the dark horse which could have won it the global beverages race. Meanwhile, Tata Tea is not abandoning its ‘watery’ ambitions, even though they are virtually re-starting from scratch. Heard about their latest plans of acquiring 26% stake in Mount Everest Mineral Water Limited (MEMW) for Rs.115 crore. Great plans we’d say, considering that MEMW also has an alliance with USbased March Supermarkets Inc., but it will possibly take a lifetime for a controlling stake in MEMW to deliver what Glaceau could have delivered in just a few deft strokes.

Why did Coca-Cola buy Glaceau? This one’s easy. According to Beverage Digest, the market of carbonated drink moved southwards by 0.6% in 2006 and colas are on the receiving end of step motherly treatment in Uncle Sam’s land. Coca- Cola badly needed to diversify and Glaceau, with an eye-popping growth rate of 200% fits the bill. A f f i r m s , Muhtar Kent, COO of Coca- Cola, “It sharpens our existing focus on re-establishing sustainable growth in our home market and is an opportunity to build an expanded active lifestyle business, first in the US and then around the world.”

The other reason why Coca-Cola romanced Glaceau was arch rival PepsiCo. Confused! Well, PepsiCo’s Propel fitness water is the leader in the US’s enhanced water category (with 36% market share), while Coca-Cola has negligible presence. Given Glaceau’s market share of 17% in the segment, Coca-Cola’s strategy of straddling Glaceau’s prowess in the vitamin-water and energy drinks segment will pay off, sooner than later.

In India, within days of this global acquisition, the cola giant announced that in next three years, it would invest $250 million in this burgeroning market. But despite being in sunny spirits here (Coca Cola India’s bottling operations would turn profitable in 2008), the cola major has “no plans to launch Glaceau brands in India, at the moment,” a Coca-Cola India spokesperson told 4Ps B&M. Adds Purnendu Kumar, Principal Consultant, Technopak Advisors, “There is no awareness of these beverage brands and existing players have already captured the market. There is scope for new foreign brands, but it needs a proper brand building exercise.

For now the genie has left Tata’s ambit, and landed with a chuckle in Coca-Cola’s arms. Glaceau was financially lucky for Ratan Tata, but could not deliver on its starry promises. Just being the lucky owner of Aladdin’s lamp is not enough. You need the ability to judiciously command the genie to do your bidding. And that is not easy, as Aladdin’s mischievous uncle will tell you!

About IIPM

IIPM is India’s Premier B-School. It was established by economic visionary Dr. M. K Chaudhuri in the year 1973. IIPM ranks among the top 5 B-Schools of India. Prof Arindam Chaudhuri is the Dean of IIPM. He is an eminent author, an authoritative speaker & a transformational leader. He has been conferred upon with ‘Management Guru 2000’ award, ‘Personality of the Decade’ award, ‘Example to Youth’ award & many more...
Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri established Planman Consulting in 1996. Now Planman Consulting is India's largest multi interest consulting and business services corporation engaging a variety of organizations, institutions and enterprises in diverse industry and government verticals.
Planman’s Consulting services are utilized by a number of the Fortune 500 organizations. There are various sister concerns of Planman Consulting, namely:
Planman Media (A publishing house), Planman HR (A human resource consultancy), Planman Financials (A financial company), ICMR (Market Research Company), Planman Marcom (Advertising and PR Company), Planman Motion Pictures (Film production house), Planman Technologies (An IT firm), Planman Stars (An Event Management Company)